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REVIEW: Black Panther: Who Is The Black Panther by Reginald Hudlin and John Romita Jr.

The reclusive country of Wakanda is under threat by a deadly team. The Black Panther must protect his family, his home and his nation as outside nations look to take advantage of any weakness.

This is the perfect comic for someone to be introduced to the world and character of the Black Panther. You learn about T’Challa’s backstory, his family and the history of the Black Panther name. I’d never read a comic about or featuring Black Panther before – I’d only seen the awesome TV show Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which Black Panther was a part of and that’s where I first thought he was a badass.

T’Challa is indeed a badass. He is the leader of his people so he is smart and resourceful as well as being full of honour and a sense of gravitas that you can feel through the pages. He is a badass when he is dealing with nosy bureaucrats and he is a badass when he is fighting bad guys.

T’Challa’s whole family (and the Wakandan’s in general) are pretty amazing. His sister Shuri wanted to become the Black Panther and even though she didn’t get that chance she can still fight and protect her country. She is also very clever and not afraid to go against her brothers orders when she thinks something isn’t right.

I loved the scenes where American politicians are discussing Wakanda and the history of it keeping invaders from various countries out – it’s an interesting insight in racism and imperialism as these Americans can’t believe a country in Africa can be more technological advanced than themselves. Wakandans are freakin’ awesome!

Who Is The Black Panther is action-packed and the art is great. It also has the first issues that the Black Panther ever appeared in, way back in 1966 where T’Challa beats the Fantastic Four – he is that awesome. It’s a nice, complete story arc that anyone with any amount of knowledge about the Black Panther can pick up. 5/5.